I adore the holidays: the time of families and friends gathering together and miracles coming true. Schoolwork and worries are forgotten amidst the joy and festivity as another year draws to an end. Everything and everyone is bathed in the soft glow of happiness that only comes along once a year. What could be better than that? However, as I look back on 2011, something nags at me. It’s something that pesters me every year as I revisit the memories of the past year: my previous New Year’s resolutions.
Now, I understand and agree completely that the beginning of each new year is a time of hope and optimism. Setting goals and tasks for oneself is a long-held tradition, dating all the way back to the ancient Babylonians, to welcome the new year and all that it brings. At the same time, I do not enjoy setting myself up for failure. At the beginning of 2011, I told myself that I would keep my resolutions simple and so I only promised myself to do one thing: get more sleep. I failed miserably. Not only did I not get more sleep, I found myself pulling all-nighters much more often, thanks to certain ridiculously difficult classes of junior year. I spend half of my days in a sleep-deprived daze.
I am certainly not the only one who feels this way towards New Year’s resolutions. The Wall Street Journal reports that only 12% of resolutions-setters actually achieve their goals by the end of the year — a measly twelve percent! Psychologists not only agree that resolutions are a near pointless exercise, but also remark that this tradition is “doomed to failure.” (www.guardian.co.uk). As anyone can see, these statistics are extremely depressing and do not bode well for the future of New Year’s Resolutions.
Nonetheless, it is clear that this annual ritual will not die out; New Year’s Resolutions have survived for almost 4000 years and show no signs of stopping. Personally, I am boycotting the tradition of New Year’s resolutions for 2012. At the end of this year, I want to look back on 2012 with no nagging memory of a failed resolution. However, I wish the best of luck to any and all resolution-setters. May 2012 be an unforgettable year!